Reconnaissance and surveillance are important activities for both military and civilian organizations alike. While by no means a complete list, hostage and survivor rescue missions, illicit drug raids, and response to chemical or toxic waste spills are some of the operations that may benefit from a reconnaissance or surveillance component.
While various systems may satisfactorily provide this capability, one promising solution is provided by the use of one or more robotic vehicles. These robotic vehicles, operating either autonomously, semi-autonomously, or under remote control, travel into areas deemed unsafe or otherwise unfriendly to humans and relay information back to remote personnel/equipment. While the exact configuration may vary, they typically include at least a chassis or body to carry the vehicle's payload and operational components (e.g., communication equipment, power supply, etc.), as well as powered ground-engaging members, e.g., wheels, to propel the vehicle over terrain. Using a variety of sensors associated with the body, these robotic vehicles may act as remote and mobile eyes, ears, noses, etc. of a reconnaissance/surveillance system.
Because some reconnaissance/surveillance activities require covert action and/or movement within small spaces, these robotic vehicles may be relatively small. In addition to minimizing their detection and allowing movement through small spaces, a miniaturized vehicle is also easy to transport and deliver to the target site. Moreover, small size allows for a greater number of vehicles to be brought into use for a single operation, and further makes individual robots expendable without jeopardizing the overall goal.
While small robotic vehicles are advantageous for their ability to perform these reconnaissance/surveillance tasks, drawbacks exist. For example, due to their small size and minimal ground clearance, these vehicles have somewhat limited ability, at least when moving under wheel power, to traverse rough or uneven terrain. Moreover, their elevation may be less than desirable for particular applications. While increasing wheel diameter provides increased ground clearance, simply adding larger wheels may adversely affect the robot's versatility, e.g., may make it more difficult to be carried and/or launched from certain delivery devices; and may reduce or otherwise limit its ability to travel into cramped areas or through small entryways.